ANAHEIM – Anaheim Arena is poised to become the latest venue to host major concerts and sporting events in a city fast evolving into a hotbed for Southern California entertainment.

Tonight, the City Council is to consider a five-year contract with a worldwide promoter, Anschutz Entertainment Group Facilities Inc., that is expected to bring about 50 events, such as family shows, tournaments and music, to the arena attached to the Anaheim Convention Center.

The agreement also would allow AEG to bring in a National Basketball Association minor league team.

With renewed activity in the once-hopping arena, five major venues within five miles of each other would showcase national talent in the city. They range from the 45,000- seat Angel Stadium to the House of Blues Anaheim, which holds 1,000 concertgoers.

“It’s a statement to all of the agencies, all of the promoters out there, all the artists out there that the Orange County market is a fabulously strong market,” said Mike O’Donnell, general manager of the Arrowhead Pond, which seats about 17,000 for sports.

Contract

Previously, the dome-shaped, space-age arena regularly hosted public events, such as Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Rock groups The Doors and Jefferson Airplane played on opening day in 1967. Professional sports teams, such as the Anaheim Amigos basketball team, used to call the arena home.

After the Pond opened in 1993, the larger venue sucked away annual events and shows, leaving the arena to book mostly exhibits, car shows, corporate meetings and sports tournaments.

But AEG is expected to turn around the arena with its experience and ties, said Greg Smith, the city’s convention, sports and entertainment director. Internationally, AEG promotes shows; runs facilities, including Staples Center; and manages teams, including the Los Angeles Kings.

“The Anaheim Arena has been an overlooked facility for whatever reason in the marketplace,” said editor Gary Bongiovanni of Pollstar, the concert business trade publication. “Having somebody who is trying to steer shows in there is certainly a plus.”

AEG would hold an exclusive agreement, effective immediately, to book public events at the arena when there are no conventions or community events. Under the contract:

AEG would take the financial risk for its events, but would split the income in half with the city.

The city would be guaranteed a minimum amount of money each year, totaling $2.5million over five years.

AEG would sell sponsorship and naming rights to the arena, also splitting the revenue in half with the city.

Michael Roth, AEG spokesman, decline to comment.

Concert venues

Operators of other area halls say they don’t believe the arena will steal events because they’re different sizes.

Of the five Anaheim venues, the city owns all but the House of Blues. All are near or in the Platinum Triangle, an area around Angel Stadium that is transforming into an entertainment and dining district with 7,300 planned homes.

The closest one in size to Anaheim Arena is The Theatre at The Pond, in which the Pond is divided in half with about 7,000 seats. Anaheim Arena shows would have 4,500 to 8,000 seats.

“We all like to go and watch good music,” said Neil Raboy, 22, of Huntington Beach, who goes to venues such as the House of Blues with his friends. “We hang out at shows, especially at the downtown Disney area. Anywhere with restaurants and coffee shops is good.”

In Orange County, the most comparable indoor venue is UC Irvine’s Bren Events Center, which this month hosted “American Idol”-winner Kelly Clarkson and hip-hop star Kanye West. Center director Bernadette Strobel-Lopez said she believes there is a market for more shows of that size.

“I think it’s (Orange County) tremendously rich in diversity and that’s something that is very attractive to promoters. There isn’t any one way one venue can handle all that. I think two venues makes a lot of sense,” said Strobel-Lopez.

National concert promoters are finding there is enough demand to book the same artists in both Los Angeles and Orange County: U2 and Paul McCartney played shows at both Staples Center and the Pond. Plus, Orange County is close enough for residents to drive in from San Diego and the Inland Empire, where there are few major halls.

“The more great acts you can get into this market, whether at The Pond or The Grove or Anaheim Arena, it adds more cachet and legitimacy for a city as a great stop on a tour,” said Adam Millar, general manager of The Grove of Anaheim.

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